We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the beloved children’s books that changed their lives. Here they are, ranked in no particular order. READ: 67 Children’s Books That Actually Changed Your Life | BuzzFeed
Tag Archives: human interest
Big-Hearted Book Lovers Across Brazil Donate 5,000 Books To Fulfill Girl’s Library Dream | HuffPo #books #libraries
Image Credit: Biblioteca da Mell on Facebook
“One book is worth 100 books in my heart.”
“Books have three qualities: having them, exchanging them, and their smell. You can journey through literature, and be in Mexico, or anywhere else, while sitting still.”
These are quotes from a little girl named Ana Mell Araújo Rocha Silva — better known by her nickname, Mell. At just seven years old, she dreams of opening a public library in her city of Mata Grande, a small municipality in the state of Alagoas, Brazil, with a population of just over 25,000. READ MORE: Big-Hearted Book Lovers Across Brazil Donate 5,000 Books To Fulfill Girl’s Library Dream | HuffPo Brazil
This Little Robot Wants to Be Your Best Friend [Indiegogo] | WIRED #robots #AI #gadgets
WE’VE LONG KNOWN there’s a market out there for robotic buddies. One compelling piece of evidence: The original Furby sold more than 40 million units, and it didn’t really do anything.
17 years later, an A.I. and machine-learning company is making a robot pal that will do way more than its fuzzy predecessor. It’s called Musio, and it houses a pretty impressive A.I. engine developed by a company called AKA.
The robot remembers details from prior conversations, asks follow-up questions based on that info, and can be used as a smart-home controller. But its main goal is to be your friend: Asking you questions, actually listening to your answers, and learning what you’re all about
READ MORE: This Little Robot Wants to Be Your Best Friend | WIRED
My Brief and Curious Life As a Mechanical Turk | Gizmodo
As accomplished as modern-day computers are, there are some very basic things even the smartest machines have yet to master: tough judgment calls, advanced image recognition, making goofy faces, conducting psychological surveys. These are an assortment of tasks we humans can still claim as our own. Or at least, that we can outsource to other, less fortunate humans. Like me.
In Amazons words, Mechanical Turk is “a marketplace for work that requires human intelligence.” But in reality its even simpler than that description implies: Its a job board where the pay is low and the jobs are dumb. If you have a functional cerebral cortex, an internet connection, and a few minutes to spare, you can pick up a handful of odd jobs—the oddest of jobs—and make a few bucks, pennies, and nickels at a time. But whats it like to be that “human intelligence?” As I found out last year, its weird, fascinating, perplexing, and a little depressing, all at once.
READ MORE: My Brief and Curious Life As a Mechanical Turk | Gizmodo
How Daydreaming Can Actually Make You Smarter | HuffPost
Psychology was my undergrad major. I have always been fascinated by theories of intelligence, cognitive development and memory. I’m one of those people who like to take personality and IQ tests. I believe in the value of reading to increase our emotional development and improve communication skills. Its great to see new research challenging our preconceived notions of intelligence.
Daydreaming gets a pretty bad rap. It’s often equated with laziness, and we tend to write off people with wandering minds as being absent-minded “space cadets” who can’t get their heads out of the clouds.
Though we all spend close to 50 percent of our waking lives in a state of mind-wandering, according to one estimate, some research casts daydreaming in a negative light. A 2010 Harvard study linked spacing out with unhappiness, concluding that “a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” But could these unconscious thinking processes actually play a pivotal role in the achievement of personal goals?
In a radical new theory of human intelligence, one cognitive psychologist argues that having your head in the clouds might actually help people to better engage with the pursuits that are most personally meaningful to them. According to Scott Barry Kaufman, NYU psychology professor and author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, we need a new definition of intelligence — one that factors in our deepest dreams and desires.
Read the full story: How Daydreaming Can Actually Make You Smarter | HuffPost
You may also like: The Case for Preserving the Pleasure of Deep Reading | MindShift | The Modern MLIS
Epic Rap Battle: Nerd vs. Geek | Rhett & Link | YouTube
100 Great Children’s Books | 100 Years | NYPL
The New York Public Library releases a list of the top 100 greatest children’s books from the past 100 years. You can browse the list on the website or download a pdf of the list.
Great stories never grow old! Chosen by children’s librarians at The New York Public Library, these 100 inspiring tales have thrilled generations of children and their parents — and are still flying off our shelves. Use this list and your library card to discover new worlds of wonder and adventure!
via 100 Great Children’s Books | 100 Years | The New York Public Library.
Penguin pays tribute to Tom Clancy | The Bookseller
Penguin has paid tribute to thriller giant Tom Clancy, who has died at the age of 66.
Tom Clancy died yesterday (1st October) at a Baltimore hospital, close to his Maryland home.
Clancy wrote 25 fiction and non-fiction books for Penguin, including several thrillers based around the military and international espionage, dubbed “techno-thrillers”, many of which were adapted into Hollywood films. The author’s 17th novel, Command Authority, is due to be released in December 2013.
Tom Weldon, c.e.o. of Penguin Random House UK said: “Tom Clancy changed readers’ expectations of what a thriller could do. He was a master of his craft and it was our privilege to work with him. He will be greatly missed by millions of fans in the UK and around the world.”
David Shanks, Penguin USA c.e.o., was involved with every one of Clancy’s books. He said: “I’m deeply saddened by Tom’s passing. He was a consummate author, creating the modern-day thriller, and was one of the most visionary storytellers of our time. I will miss him dearly and he will be missed by tens of millions of readers worldwide.”
The Anatomy Of A No. 2 Pencil | HuffPost Books
For logophiles and those who love quirky stuff:
It is assumed the reader is already somewhat familiar with the #2 pencil. Let the remarks below serve only to further refine his or her understanding in the context of best sharpening practices.
Read the full excerpt: The Anatomy Of A No. 2 Pencil | HuffPost Books
These TechBikers Just Built 16 Libraries After Cycling From Paris To London | TechCrunch
Last year a bunch of European tech startup founders got on their bikes and raised money for charity. This weekend just gone the TechBikers – 70 founders/techies – once again achieved their 200 mile, 3 day cycle ride from Paris to London in style.
As a result of last year’s ride, TechBikers built a school and two libraries in Nepal. This year they’ve so far raised $75,000, enough money to build sixteen libraries or schools in India, Africa and Asia.
Read: These TechBikers Just Built 16 Libraries After Cycling From Paris To London | TechCrunch.
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